Since the launch of his campaign for mayor of Harrisburg, Eric Papenfuse has said he has created more than 250 jobs in the last decade.

How accurate is that?

The Patriot-News requested documentary verification of the claim from the Papenfuse campaign. The campaign provided a letter from Seung Chon, the Midtown Scholar's chief operating officer, and redacted copies of an internal payroll report from the week of Jan 23, 2013.

The jobs claim is based on the people Papenfuse has employed at his bookstore and warehouse business since 2003. According to Chon, the business's accounting system "keeps track of each individual employee with a unique number" and those numbers are sequential.

Since 2003, the business has employed 261 people - but that includes people who have worked there and since quit or been fired.

Papenfuse's system counts employees, not jobs.

What's the "net" - the number of jobs currently in existence?

Chon's letter says "in the first quarter of 2013, we had 68 employees;" however, it appears that number could also include churn.

The Patriot-News asked several times for a current payroll count, but the only evidence the campaign would provide was the direct deposit payroll listing for one week in January, saying the company tracks employment figures by quarter.

The documentary evidence provided indicates that as of Jan. 23, there were 61 jobs as a result of Papenfuse's private business venture.

Not all those jobs are located in the City of Harrisburg.

Some of the jobs are located close by, as Papenfuse's internet warehouse facility is located at 3401 North Sixth Street, in Susquehanna Township.

The Patriot-News asked for a break-down of which of the 61 jobs were in the city as opposed to in Susquehanna Township, noting both figures would be printed.

The campaign refused.

Campaign spokeswoman Joyce Davis said in an email, "I would think since the business is based in Harrisburg, all of the people hired are connected to that business." No break-down was provided.

So, in the final analysis, Papenfuse's job creation claim is only partly true. When he says he created more than 250 jobs, it's an exaggeration because - like Linda Thompson's new business and jobs claims - the numbers do not account for churn.

The bottom line is Papenfuse is responsible for the creation of 61 jobs in the Harrisburg area, according to the data supplied. Not all of those jobs are located in the city limits, but because the campaign declined to provide a break-down of the location of the 61 positions, it's unclear how many are actually in the city.

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